The world was shocked by the recent news of a skeleton in Swedens closet, the countrys forced sterilization policy of disabled people and others who were not found to be worthy to have children. The facts are clear, there is no reason to question the authencity of the sterilization records. Sources other than Dagens Nyheter, the nations largest daily newspaper that recently started the sterilization discussion, as well as researchers are confirming the facts. Also, Sweden is famous for its comprehensive statistics. Thus, all sterilizations records and "patient" journals are archived and available to researcchers and journalists. Persons who were sterilized against their will have come out of their silence and appeared in the media. The sterilizations were fully legal according to the laws of the time. There were well-developed and state-regulated routines with medical experts at the local and national level, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with a panel of highly placed representatives of political parties (mainly female Social Democrats including an ambassador to the United Nations) who signed the decisions that would deprive tens of thousands of persons of one of the most basic human rights, the right to have children.

The motives? Discussion and practice of eugenics, the effort to "improve" a
nations genetic material, started shortly after the turn of
the century. In recent years, scientific advances are improving
the means to detect "subnormal" embryos as candidates
for legal abortions and have opened up the possibility of genetic
manipulation. In short, the tendency to value quality of life as
measured in biological terms is still very much alive and even on
the increase throughout the West.

During the period between
the end of WW I and the end of WW II there existed an additional
factor that favored the "biologistic" outlook on life:
racism and nationalism. These ideologies received the greatest
support during fascism in Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan. But
fascism as an ideological movement was influential in many other
countries. It is an established fact that Sweden and other Nordic
countries had friendly relations with Nazi Germany up until and
even after the outbreak of WW II. Many of the nationalistic and
racist thoughts and programs that Hitler Germany stood for were
also popular in Sweden. For example, it was at the request of
Swedish immigration authorities that German authorities stamped
the letter "J" (for Jew) in the passports of Jews. Some
historians claim that the Swedish Medical Association lobbied for
a reduction of Jewish immigration in this way, fearing
competition from the influx of Jewish immigrants many of whom
were professionals including medical doctors.

Already in the 1920s Sweden
established the State Institute for Race Biology that was to
operate until the 1950s. State institutions, such as this
institute, party ideologists and leading politicians formulated
the sterilization programs in an attempt to improve the
nations genetic material by insuring that citizens who were
considered to be "insufficient", "imbecil",
"deviant" and "a burden to society" would not
have children. The legal base to this practice was passed by
parliament in true democratic fashion.

While eugenic motives
played a role in the sterilizations, economic aspects were also
important. When child allowances - monthly payments to families
for each child, administered by the tax-funded national social
insurance scheme - were introduced in the 1950s, the number of
forced sterilizations of the "undesirable" part of the
population doubled. The Swedish concept of the
"peoples home", formulated in the 1930s and the
most influential vision in Swedish politics, was based on the
ideal of a closely-knit, homogenous society - similar to a family
- where all members would support each other. Each one would
contribute according to ones abilities and would receive
according to ones needs. The folkhem - as the concept is
called in Swedish - was to become the foundation of decades of
peaceful labor relations, far-reaching social reforms and
unprecedented economic growth.

The dark side to this model
was the harsh demand for conformity. People who did not
correspond to the ideal of this new society were not welcome. For
example, a recent newspaper article reported the case of a girl
in her late teens who in the late 1940s was sterilized against
her will. The justification given in her journal was the comment
that she had often been seen hanging around the towns
dancing hall.

Another contributing factor
why these "legal" human rights violations were
tolerated and supported by so many for so long - 60,000 persons
were sterilized in roughly half a century when Sweden¥s average
population was about 6 million - was probably the absence of a
court to investigate the constitutionality of new laws. Sweden
has never had a revolution and the state and its administration
have enjoyed a trust that many foreign observers find astounding.
There were no perceived reasons for the necessity of an elaborate
system of checks and balances as in other countries. Thus, in a
country with a relative homgeneous population, without separation
of State and Church, with strong traditions of collectivism and
consensus decisions, majority rule in parliament has been
considered to be a sufficient guarantee to pass laws in the
nations best interest.

In recent months European
newspapers carried accounts of forced sterilization in other
countries, such as Finalnd, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Belgium.
But the fact that in Sweden more persons were sterilized, on a
per capita basis, than in other countries is hard to understand
both in Sweden and abroad. Perhaps it has to do with the image
that Swedes have of themselves and that they want to spread:
Sweden, the peaceful nation, neutral, unafraid to point at
violations of human rights in other parts of the world, a country
of advanced social reforms, where citizens enjoy a high and
guaranteed level of public services in education, health and
social welfare.

During the last decade
Sweden has been changing. When Prime Minister Olof Palme was
murdered in the street, the nation was shocked. Such a crime had
been unimaginable in their country. Since then Sweden has changed
to a degree that many older persons say they do not recognize
their country anymore. Increasing globalization of the economy,
the entrance requirements to the European Monetary Union (to
start in 1999) and a long-drawn recession have forced the
government to carry out painful cuts in tax-funded programs in
order to reduce public spending to the level of other OECD
countries in an effort to improve the countrys competitive
standing. Soon, Swedens social policy will not materially
differ from that of other European countries.

Soon, Sweden will not be what it used to be. Perhaps the forced sterilization disclosure gives us reasons to doubt whether it had ever been what it used to be.